Underground Astronauts

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Cross-section of the Rising Star Cave system Cross-section of the Rising Star Cave system Dinaledi Chamber.svg
Cross-section of the Rising Star Cave system

The Underground Astronauts is the name given to a group of six scientists, Hannah Morris, Marina Elliott, Becca Peixotto, Alia Gurtov, K. Lindsay (then Eaves) Hunter, [1] and Elen Feuerriegel, who excavated the bones of Homo naledi from the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star cave system in Gauteng, South Africa. [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]  The six women were selected by the expedition leader, Lee Rogers Berger, [7] [8] who posted a message on Facebook asking for scientists with experience in paleontological excavations and caving, and were slender enough for cramped spaces. [6]  Within ten days of the post, Berger had received almost sixty applicants and chose six scientists to make up his expedition team. [9]

Contents

The Rising Star Expedition

In November 2013, the National Geographic Society and the University of the Witwatersrand funded an expedition called the Rising Star Expedition for a twenty-one day excavation at the Rising Star cave system in Gauteng, [10] followed by a second expedition in March 2014 for a 4-week excavation in the Dinaledi Chamber. The first expedition retrieved 1,550 pieces of bone belonging to at least fifteen individuals, found within 1 m2 of clay-rich sediments. [11] [5] Out of the fossil assemblage found, only twenty bones in the human anatomy were not found in the assortment. [5]

The six scientists had to pass through three points of difficult terrain in the cave to reach the bone chamber. The first is referred to as "Superman's Crawl," which required one arm held forward to pass, similar to Superman's flight. They then had to climb vertically up a rock surface, known as the "Dragon's back," and finally pass through a slender opening [5] [12] and descend 30 meters into the Dinaledi chamber. [5] [9] [13] Because of the difficulty of the expedition and their exploration of the Dinaledi Chamber, the six women were given the name "the Underground Astronauts." [14]

Controversy

Berger's methods in selecting his research team were criticized by some contemporaries. Because of how he called for applicants via social media to investigate new hominin remains, some experts questioned the legitimacy and professionalism of the expedition. [13]  He used a similar process when it came time to analyze the recovered remains, once again sending out a call online for those interested in analyzing the remains, specifically looking for early career applicants. [13]  Berger was given the nickname "Mr. Paleodemocracy" because of his methods. [13] Some experts began to view the expedition as a media stunt, as the excavation process was documented via daily blog posts, and Berger spoke on radio shows. [13]  The data collected was published in open-access journals and scanned in-order to allow the greatest amount of scientists to access and contribute to the study of the fossil data, quite different from the slow and limited access methods used by most paleoanthropologists. [9]

Excavator team

See also

Related Research Articles

Paleoanthropology or paleo-anthropology is a branch of paleontology and anthropology which seeks to understand the early development of anatomically modern humans, a process known as hominization, through the reconstruction of evolutionary kinship lines within the family Hominidae, working from biological evidence and cultural evidence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cradle of Humankind</span> Paleoanthropological site near Johannesburg, South Africa

The Cradle of Humankind is a paleoanthropological site and is located about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa, in the Gauteng province. Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999, the site is home to the largest concentration of human ancestral remains anywhere in the world. The site currently occupies 47,000 hectares (180 sq mi) and contains a complex system of limestone caves. The registered name of the site in the list of World Heritage Sites is Fossil Hominid Sites of South Africa.

Marc R. Meyer is an archaeologist and anthropologist who is notable for his excavation of, and research into, the remains of fossil hominids such as Australopithecines and early genus Homo. He currently lectures at Chaffey College, Rancho Cucamonga, CA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liang Bua</span> Cave and archaeological site in Indonesia

Liang Bua is a limestone cave on the island of Flores, Indonesia, slightly north of the town of Ruteng in Manggarai Regency, East Nusa Tenggara. The cave demonstrated archaeological and paleontological potential in the 1950s and 1960s as described by the Dutch missionary and archaeologist Theodor L. Verhoeven.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swartkrans</span> Fossil-bearing cave in South Africa

Swartkrans is a fossil-bearing cave designated as a South African National Heritage Site, located about 32 km (20 mi) from Johannesburg. It is located in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site and is notable for being extremely rich in archaeological material, particularly hominin remains. Fossils discovered in the limestone of Swartkrans include Homo ergaster, Paranthropus and Homo habilis. The oldest deposits present at the site are believed to be between 1.9 and 2.1 million years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Berger (paleoanthropologist)</span> Paleoanthropologist, physical anthropologist, archaeologist

Lee Rogers Berger is an American-born South African paleoanthropologist and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence. He is best known for his discovery of the Australopithecus sediba type site, Malapa; his leadership of Rising Star Expedition in the excavation of Homo naledi at Rising Star Cave; and the Taung Bird of Prey Hypothesis.

Timeline of anthropology, 2010–2019

The Rising Star cave system is located in the Malmani dolomites, in Bloubank River valley, about 800 meters southwest of Swartkrans, part of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site in South Africa. Recreational caving has occurred there since the 1960s. Fossils found in the cave were, in 2015, proposed to represent a previously unknown extinct species of hominin named Homo naledi.

<i>African Genesis</i> 1961 nonfiction work by Robert Ardrey

African Genesis: A Personal Investigation into the Animal Origins and Nature of Man, usually referred to as African Genesis, is a 1961 nonfiction work by the American writer Robert Ardrey. It posited the hypothesis that man evolved on the African continent from carnivorous, predatory ancestors who distinguished themselves from apes by the use of weapons. The work bears on questions of human origins, human nature, and human uniqueness. It has been widely read and continues to inspire significant controversy.

<i>Homo naledi</i> South African archaic human species

Homo naledi is an extinct hominin species discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star Cave system, Gauteng province, South Africa, dating to the Middle Pleistocene 335,000–236,000 years ago. The initial discovery comprises 1,550 specimens of bone, representing 737 different skeletal elements, and at least 15 different individuals. Despite this exceptionally high number of specimens, their classification with other Homo species remains unclear.

<i>Dawn of Humanity</i> 2015 American documentary film

Dawn of Humanity is a 2015 American documentary film that was released online on September 10, 2015, and aired nationwide in the United States on September 16, 2015. The PBS NOVA National Geographic film, in one episode of two hours, was directed and produced by Graham Townsley. The film describes the 2013 discovery, and later excavation, of the fossil remains of Homo naledi, an extinct species of hominin assigned to the genus Homo, found within the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave system, located in the Cradle of Humankind, South Africa. Additionally, the National Geographic Society has multiple videos on its website covering different phases of the discovery and excavation of the fossils during a two-year period. As of September 2015, fossils of at least fifteen individuals, amounting to 1550 specimens, have been excavated from the cave.

Elen Feuerriegel is an Australian palaeoanthropologist, known for being one of the "underground astronauts" of the Rising Star Expedition. She is also a clinical research scientist at the University of Colorado Denver where she specialises in COVID-19 AND HIV clinical trials.

Alia Gurtov is an American paleoanthropologist who is known for being one of the six Underground Astronauts of the Rising Star Expedition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Becca Peixotto</span> American archaeologist

Rebecca (Becca) Peixotto is an American archaeologist who is best known for her contribution to the Rising Star Expedition as one of the six Underground Astronauts, a group of scientists tasked with excavating the Rising Star Cave System. She has also participated in the Great Dismal Swamp Landscape Study and is an experienced wilderness educator.

Hannah Morris is an American anthropologist, known for her contribution to the Rising Star Expedition as one of the six women Underground Astronauts. She is currently a Ph.D. student in the Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources at the University of Georgia, studying "the implications of human actions on vegetative ecosystems".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marina Elliott</span> Canadian biological anthropologist

Marina Elliott is a Canadian biological anthropologist, who is known for being one of the six Underground Astronauts of the Rising Star Expedition.

<i>Denny</i> (hybrid hominin) Hominin fossil

Denny is an ~90,000 year old fossil specimen belonging to a ~13-year-old Neanderthal-Denisovan hybrid girl. To date, she is the only first-generation hybrid hominin ever discovered. Denny’s remains consist of a single fossilized fragment of a long bone discovered among over 2,000 visually unidentifiable fragments excavated at the Denisova Cave in the Altai Mountains, Russia in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armand Mijares</span> Filipino archaeologist (born 1966)

Armand Salvador B. Mijares is a Filipino archaeologist from Manila, Philippines. He works as Professor of Archaeology at the Archaeological Studies Program of the University of the Philippines-Diliman. He specializes in lithic analysis, ceramic petrology, soil micromorphology, paleolithic archaeology and early human migration in Southeast Asia. In 2010, Mijares gained international attention as the main author of a Journal of Human Evolution report about a 67,000-year old foot bone discovered in Callao Cave. That report gave evidence for the newly named species of Homo, called Homo luzonensis, named after the Philippines' largest island—Luzon. The discovery has advanced the complexity of early human colonization of Southeast Asia.

Trenton Holliday is a paleoanthropologist who was involved in the discovery of Homo naledi, found in the Dinaledi Chamber of the Rising Star Cave system in South Africa in 2015. Holliday, along with his team, analyzed the body size and proportions of the fossil.

Unknown: Cave of Bones is a Netflix documentary about paleontologist Lee Berger's work at Rising Star Cave.

References

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